Dershowitz is Innocent

Renowned defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz is proclaiming his innocence after he was accused, among others, of raping a minor in a civil lawsuit against his former client Jeffrey Epstein. The unnamed accuser has not filed criminal charges against him, nor has she sued him personally. Dershowitz has now taken the fight to court, filing a sworn declaration denying the charges and filing a motion to intervene in the case to clear his name. Dershowitz’s wife and daughter, too, have gone public defending him.

I personally believe Dershowitz is completely innocent, and is either a victim of mistaken identity, or of a malicious campaign of defamation intended to extort money and exact revenge Epstein. Dershowitz happens to be a friend and mentor of mine, and he has always been a model of exemplary moral conduct and leadership.

But you do not need to know–or even like–Dershowitz to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he is not guilty of the terrible crime of which he has accused in this tabloid scandal.

The first piece of evidence is that Dershowitz has now filed a formal statement and placed himself under penalty of perjury if he is lying. His accuser has made no such statement under oath. Until she does, her claims must be treated with greater skepticism than Dershowitz’s proclamations of innocence.

The second piece of evidence is the fact that the accuser has not even filed a civil claim of assault against Dershowitz, which would only need to be “more likely than not” to convince a jury to find him liable.

It is therefore “more likely than not” that Dershowitz is innocent. Add to that the fact that the accuser has not filed a formal Bar complaint against Dershowitz–who would be subject to discipline or disbarment for a crime involving moral turpitude–and the case against Dershowitz looks even weaker.

It is Dershowitz’s misfortune that he is lumped together with Bill Clinton, who has a poor reputation, in this controversy. The damage to his reputation–even when vindicated–will be real. Still, Dershowitz will win.

Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.

Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak